EP4291895A1 - Viromètre à écoulement pour la détection rapide de virus intacts - Google Patents

Viromètre à écoulement pour la détection rapide de virus intacts

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Publication number
EP4291895A1
EP4291895A1 EP22706915.0A EP22706915A EP4291895A1 EP 4291895 A1 EP4291895 A1 EP 4291895A1 EP 22706915 A EP22706915 A EP 22706915A EP 4291895 A1 EP4291895 A1 EP 4291895A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
dye
signal
flow
specific
particles
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Pending
Application number
EP22706915.0A
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German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Eitan Lerner
Thorben Cordes
Yair RAZVAG
Paz DRORI
Gabriel Moya
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen LMU
Yissum Research Development Co of Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Original Assignee
Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen LMU
Yissum Research Development Co of Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen LMU, Yissum Research Development Co of Hebrew University of Jerusalem filed Critical Ludwig Maximilians Universitaet Muenchen LMU
Publication of EP4291895A1 publication Critical patent/EP4291895A1/fr
Pending legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/569—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor for microorganisms, e.g. protozoa, bacteria, viruses
    • G01N33/56983—Viruses
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1404—Handling flow, e.g. hydrodynamic focusing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1429—Signal processing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1434—Optical arrangements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1456—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry without spatial resolution of the texture or inner structure of the particle, e.g. processing of pulse signals
    • G01N15/1459—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry without spatial resolution of the texture or inner structure of the particle, e.g. processing of pulse signals the analysis being performed on a sample stream
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1484—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry microstructural devices
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/531—Production of immunochemical test materials
    • G01N33/532—Production of labelled immunochemicals
    • G01N33/533—Production of labelled immunochemicals with fluorescent label
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/53—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor
    • G01N33/543—Immunoassay; Biospecific binding assay; Materials therefor with an insoluble carrier for immobilising immunochemicals
    • G01N33/54366—Apparatus specially adapted for solid-phase testing
    • G01N33/54373—Apparatus specially adapted for solid-phase testing involving physiochemical end-point determination, e.g. wave-guides, FETS, gratings
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/58—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving labelled substances
    • G01N33/582—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving labelled substances with fluorescent label
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/01—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials specially adapted for biological cells, e.g. blood cells
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N2015/0038—Investigating nanoparticles
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N15/1404—Handling flow, e.g. hydrodynamic focusing
    • G01N2015/1413—Hydrodynamic focussing
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N2015/1477—Multiparameters
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N15/00—Investigating characteristics of particles; Investigating permeability, pore-volume or surface-area of porous materials
    • G01N15/10—Investigating individual particles
    • G01N15/14—Optical investigation techniques, e.g. flow cytometry
    • G01N2015/1486—Counting the particles

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to the field of development of a device for the specific, sensitive and rapid detection of specific intact viruses.
  • PCR polymerase chain reaction
  • PCR or RT-PCR allows amplification of the viral signal using primers specific to viral DNAs or RNAs.
  • the lower the amount of initial DNA/RNA the more cycles of PCR/RT-PCR are required to amplify the signal to a detectable range.
  • the more cycles of amplification required the longer the procedure and the greater the chance for false positive results.
  • COVID-19 patients can be identified as being positive for the virus after 35-40 cycles of PCR amplification of a sample.
  • many of these individuals receive a negative result upon re-examination shortly thereafter, thus leading to a significant incidence of false positive results.
  • a first test result is negative and a subsequent sample tests positive.
  • Other means of confirming infection rely on past exposure and serological evidence of a prior immune system response. These and other indirect methods of detection do not necessarily reflect the current viral load.
  • the present disclosure describes new exemplary systems for sensitive and rapid detection of virus particles in human samples using a system that could be termed a 'flow virometer' which performs inverse fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy (iFCCS) of particles in laminar flow inside a microfluidic device.
  • iFCCS inverse fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy
  • a currently used technique is based on inverse fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (iFCS) as described in the above mentioned International Patent Application, Publication WO 2010/119098 to S. Wennmalm, et al. , wherein confocal-based fluorescence is used to detect diffusing particles or biomolecules in solution or in cells.
  • the technology of the present disclosure solves the problem of rapid optics- based counting of sub-microscopic particles such as viruses.
  • the proposed system enables counting of the order of 100 particles such as viruses, with diameters greater than 50 nm, at concentrations as low as 10 3 particles/m L, within a time of less than 10 minutes. It is expected, however, that even greater sensitivity is achievable with improvement of the detection system components, and the cited sensitivity is not intended to limit the capabilities of the presently described exemplary systems.
  • the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been measured to range in diameter from 60-140 nm, and the influenza virus is estimated to be in the range of 70-120 nm.
  • the selection of the nominal criterion of the detection of 100 viral particles within 10 minutes as the relevant parameter is based on the minimal number of particle detection events needed to reach a predetermined level of statistical significance, in a time frame expected to be relevant for rapid clinical diagnosis. These parameters may be adjusted for specific circumstances and applications as needed for a required degree of sensitivity. Implementations of the current methods and systems make use of a flow virometer that facilitates specific detection of intact virus particles and rapid counting thereof.
  • the microfluidics-based flow-virometer device utilizes hydrodynamic focusing of the liquid sample to concentrate the stream of particles and to provide more sensitive results than is possible with a freely flowing sample.
  • the constraining effect of the sheath flow is achieved by keeping the sheath-to- analyte flow rate ratio high enough to attain the desired concentration of the analyte flow, but not so high as to cause turbulences.
  • particles flow through a channel with a cutoff area much larger than that of the laser focus. As a result, most of the particles do not flow through the laser focus, and hence are not detected.
  • Hydrodynamic focusing helps decrease the cutoff area of the flowing stream of particles, which increases the number of particles that will flow through the laser focus. Particle size is difficult to detect accurately without directed flow.
  • Previous means of particle detection in a directed flow have been developed, such as a Coulter counter, in which an electrolyte containing the cells travels through a small aperture having an electric field applied through it. The count is achieved by observing the changes in current detected as a cell travels through the aperture, replacing the electrolyte otherwise therein.
  • Flow cytometry has been used to count cells, bacteria and even viruses; however, the required equipment is expensive and using it to count viruses relies solely on specific antibody labeling, and not on the viral particle sizes.
  • hydrodynamic focusing is used in flow cytometers or Coulter counters for determining the size of bacteria or cells
  • the system of the present disclosure differs in that the hydrodynamic focusing is applied to a microcopy arrangement of iFCCS spectroscopy, enabling detection of particles two to three orders of magnitude smaller than human cells.
  • the iFCCS-based detection of coincident signals from two detection channels involves both a negative signal, a “dip” in the stable fluorescence signal from high concentration of free dye in solution, the dip arising from the exclusion of a fraction of the dyes by the particle to be detected, and a positive signal, a “burst”, arising from the target specifically labeled with a detectable molecule: for example, an antibody, nanobody, peptide, or molecule targeting the particle's surface proteins.
  • the present disclosure describes an extension to the iFCCS approach, identifying one particle at a time, applied to a hydrodynamically focused narrowed sample flow, enabling accurate and specific recognition and quantitation of previously undetectable particles in biological samples.
  • Exemplary implementations of the present disclosure thus provide a novel confocal microscopy-based detection scheme for small particles such as viruses present at low concentrations in biological samples, either alone or in the presence of antibodies, in a time frame that may be useful in clinical detection scenarios.
  • sample volumes of less than 20 pL in laminar flow can be tested in a simple disposable microfluidic channel.
  • the bio-detection method uses confocal optical imaging to identify and count intact virus particles in a laminar flow microfluidic cell.
  • Two fluorescent dyes each having a specific excitation and emission wavelengths, are used.
  • a first dye such as fluorescein
  • a second fluorescent dye such as rhodamine 800, is used to label antibodies specific for the virus whose detection is sought. The antibody-tagged dye, will bind to antigens on the surface of the virus, should the sample contain the virus being sought.
  • the laser excites the free dyes (fluorescein) and produces a constant background fluorescent signal, which, by using a sufficiently high concentration of added dye, will provide a constant background signal having reasonably low noise fluctuations or disturbances.
  • the particle reduces the level of free dyes in the focal volume by an amount proportional to the particle volume, which leads to a dip in the constant fluorescent signal. The larger the particle, the greater the dip.
  • the fluorescence of the antibody is detected directly in a different spectral bandwidth to that of the free- flowing dye, using a separate detector. If a particle flowing through the focused beam has antibodies attached to it, a signal dip will be recorded by the free-flowing dye detector, and simultaneously a signal burst will be recorded by the second detector. Such a coincident detection is recorded as one specific particle detection event.
  • the specificity of particle detection in the sample is based on changes in both the two fluorescence-based signals, each having different excitation and emission wavelengths from the other.
  • the first change may be a specific decrease in the fluorescein signal, known as the “dip” signal, the level of the dip being indicative of the passing particle size.
  • the second change may be a rhodamine 800 “burst”, indicating specific binding of dye-labeled antibodies or receptors to the surface of the virus or other target.
  • the output provides two coinciding signals, i.e. , the ‘dip’ that is proportional to the void volume of the virus, and the ‘burst’ that indicates a viral particle bound to an antibody.
  • the basis of identifying a virus comes from recording a dip and a burst at the same time, indicating a virus passing through the laser focal volume with an antibody bound to it.
  • the specificity of detecting a particular species of virus comes from the binding of antibodies specific to its surface proteins, and from determining that the particle size is compatible with that virus. Switching between detection of one virus to another does not depend on the apparatus, but only on the mixture of dyes and antibodies in the solution that are mixed with the specimen sample.
  • the magnitude of the dip is directly proportional to the volume of the nanoparticle passing through the excitation volume. If the volume of the nanoparticle is smaller than a given value, relative to the volume of the effective excitation volume, its contribution to the decrease in the background fluorescein signal can be comparable to the amplitude of the noise around the average of the fluorescein signal. In that case, the burst of fluorescence from the other channel (a fluorescence signal from the antibody) can be used for the detection of the specific nanoparticle, but without knowing what its size is, due to the lack of an observable dip in the fluorescein signal.
  • the burst of fluorescence from the other channel is indicative of a labeled particle, and it can be used to identify the nanoparticle, without knowing what its size is, which would otherwise be known from the dip in the background fluorescence signal.
  • virus-like particle detection events can be achieved in at most 10 minutes for biologically relevant virus concentrations in saliva at concentrations as low as 10 3 -10 4 particles/mL by use of hydrodynamic focusing, which improves the microfluidics to facilitate the sensitivity required for detecting low viral loads.
  • the system is adaptable for bio-detection of many viruses and virus-like particles as well as other biological particles in the 50-1000 nm diameter range.
  • the resolution is constrained by Abbe's diffraction limit and the resolving power of the objective lens to distinguish distinct particles. If immobilized dye-labeled particles having different diameters less than 250 nm were detected by confocal imaging, every particle would be represented by a single pixel. In a free- flowing sample detecting unlabeled particles in a high concentration of free dye, the diffraction limit of the light applies to the dyes rather than to the particles.
  • the laser focal volume can be approximated by a cylinder of approximately 300 nm diameter by 1 ,000 to 1 ,500 nm height, filled with light of specific wavelengths.
  • a viral particle having 100 - 120 nm diameter passing through the laser focal volume at constant velocity, creates a temporary void in the dyes inside the focal volume cylinder, and hence reduces the dye molecules by a fraction equal to the ratio of the viral particle volume to the total laser focal volume.
  • implementations of the disclosed methods ensure that the signal-to-noise ratio is high enough that even a 0.1% decrease in dye concentration, i.e., when the virus volume is 0.1 percent of the focal volume, will be detectable by detectors having the required sensitivity. This would apply for the case of a virus having a diameter of 0.1 pm and the focal volume having a height of 1.5 pm and a diameter of 0.3 pm.
  • techniques such as stimulated emission depletion (STED) may be used to increase the limits of optically defined spatial resolution. Increasing the sensitivity of detection improves temporal resolution, by the resulting higher photon detection efficiency, smaller detector dead times, higher light saturation thresholds and low dark counts.
  • PAM photo-activated localization microscopy
  • dSTORM direct stochastical optical reconstruction microscopy
  • Various implementations of the methods of the present disclosure may use other techniques and apparatus to accomplish the small effective excitation volume ( ⁇ 1x10 -15 L) reached by the combination of tightly focused laser beam, pinhole and high sensitivity point detectors that are typically, but not essentially, part of a commercial confocal microscope.
  • the dyes, proteins, antibodies, and/or nanobodies used in various implementations of the system may be free in solution or immobilized via attachment to the microscope slide or coverslip surface, using high-affinity molecular linkages such as those between biotin and avidin. If the proteins, antibodies, and/or nanobodies used for specific identification of the virus are surface-immobilized, an attenuation in the virus particle flow may be detectable using the present methods, or by other imaging methods.
  • larger molecular dyes such as quantum dots, dye-labeled beads or dye-labeled proteins (e.g. bovine serum albumin; BSA), may be used to minimize dye penetration and maximize the size of the inverse dip signals.
  • BSA bovine serum albumin
  • a method for detection of a specific nanoparticle in a biological sample comprising: a) providing an analyte comprising: (i) at least a portion of the biological sample, (ii) a first dye having a first fluorescence wavelength, the first dye being able to link to a first member of a pair-forming molecular group, the first member having specific affinity for a second member of the pair-forming molecular group, the second member being attachable to the specific nanoparticle, and (iii) a second dye having a second fluorescence wavelength; b) narrowing a flow containing the analyte through a microfluidic device adapted to generate a hydrodynamically-focused laminar flow, the microfluidic device being positioned in the focal volume of a laser capable of exciting the first dye wavelength and the second dye wavelength; and c) detecting changes in the intensities of a first signal corresponding to the level of fluorescent emission from the first
  • the specific nanoparticle may be a virus, a virus-antibody complex, an exosome, or another nanoparticle having a diameter greater than 100 nm.
  • the biological sample may comprise any of sputum, serum, cerebral spinal fluid, urine, or feces, whether directly applied to the microfluidic chamber or processed prior to application.
  • An indication of the volume of the detected specific nanoparticle may be obtained by measuring the extent of the decrease in the level of the second signal occurring with a simultaneous increase in the level of the first signal, or by the duration of the second signal occurring with a simultaneous increase in the level of the first signal.
  • the hydrodynamic focusing is capable of concentrating the flow by a factor of at least 1 ,000, or even at least 10,000, relative to unconstrained laminar flow in a constant cross-section microfluidic device without hydrodynamic focusing.
  • the microfluidic device may comprise a multi-channel chip mounted on a slide of a confocal microscope.
  • the method may further comprise the use of hydrodynamic focusing inside the microfluidic device to accomplish the laminar flow in the microfluidic device, and may further comprise the step of counting over a predetermined time duration, the number of events showing a decrease in the level of the second signal occurring with a simultaneous increase in the level of the first signal, to provide a quantization of the specific nanoparticles.
  • the specific nanoparticle to be detected may be determined by selection of the first dye, according to its ability to link to a first member of the pair-forming molecular group.
  • the first member of the pair-forming molecular group is an antibody
  • the second member of the pair-forming molecular group is an antigen
  • the antigen is a surface molecule on the nanoparticle to be detected
  • the nanoparticle is a virus.
  • the antibody may comprise any of: a non-human antibody, a humanized antibody, a human antibody, a chimeric antibody, a bispecific antibody, and an antibody fragment comprising at least the antigen-binding fragment of an antibody.
  • the antigen-binding fragment of an antibody may refer to any of: antibody fragment selected from the group consisting of: Fab, Fab', F(ab')2, Fd, Fd', Fv, dAb, isolated CDR region, single chain variable region (scFV), single chain antibody (scab), "diabodies”, and "linear antibodies”.
  • the first member of the pair-forming molecular group is a lectin, and the second member of the pair-forming molecular group is a glycoprotein; or the first member of the pair-forming molecular group is a receptor, and the second member of the pair-forming molecular group is a ligand that binds specifically to the receptor; or the first member of the pair-forming molecular group is an enzyme, and the second member of the pair-forming molecular group is a substrate whose reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme; or the first member of the pair-forming molecular group is an RNA or DNA nucleic acid sequence, and the second member of the pair-forming molecular group is either a complementary RNA or DNA sequence, or a DNA binding protein aptamer.
  • the first dye may be a fluorophore having specific excitation and emission wavelengths, and the second dye a fluorophore having specific excitation and emission wavelengths that differ from those of the first fluorophore.
  • the method is capable of detecting 100 of the specific nanoparticles in less than 10 minutes, and the detection capability is attainable with less than 20 pL of the biological sample at concentrations as low as 1 x 10 4 particles/mL.
  • the laminar flow may be generated by mixing the analyte flow with two flanking sheath flows joining the analyte flow at a defined angle.
  • a system for detection of a specific nanoparticle in a biological sample that comprises:
  • a microfluidic device positioned in the focal volume of the confocal optical system, and adapted to generate a hydrodynamically focused laminar flow of an analyte passed therethrough, the analyte comprising a portion of the biological sample, a first dye emitting a first fluorescence wavelength on excitation by the laser illumination source, and a second dye emitting a second fluorescence wavelength on excitation by the laser illumination source; and (iii) a correlation optical arrangement for outputting as a function of time, a first signal arising from the first fluorescence emission of the first dye, and a second signal arising from the second fluorescence emission of the second dye, wherein the first dye is selected to bind to a first member of a pair-forming molecular group, the first member having specific affinity for a second member of the pair-forming molecular group, and the second member being attachable to the specific nanoparticle, such that detection by the correlation of a simultaneous decrease in the level of the second signal with an increase in the
  • the confocal optical system may comprise a dichroic mirror adapted to transmit light emitted from the flow through the microfluidic device having the wavelength of one of the fluorescent emissions, and to reflect light emitted from the flow through the microfluidic device having the wavelength of the other of the fluorescent emissions.
  • the specific nanoparticle may be any one of a virus, a virus-antibody complex, an exosome, or another nanoparticle having a diameter greater than 100 nm.
  • the biological sample may comprise any of sputum, serum, cerebral spinal fluid, urine, or feces.
  • the extent of the decrease in the level of the second signal occurring with a simultaneous increase in the level of the first signal provides an indication of the volume of the detected specific nanoparticle.
  • a duration of the second signal occurring with a simultaneous increase in the level of the first signal may be used to provide an indication of the volume of the detected specific nanoparticle.
  • Hydrodynamic focusing may be used to accomplish the narrowed laminar flow in the microfluidic device, which may comprise a multi-channel chip mounted on a slide of a confocal microscope.
  • Figs.1 A and 1 B show the arrangement of sample analysis and detection using fluorescence microscopy, and a sample result showing the output signals;
  • Figs. 3A-3C show exemplary flow meters and typical dimensions of fluorescent fluid flow using hydrodynamic focusing
  • Fig. 4 is a flowchart detailing an exemplary method employing elements of the disclosure
  • Fig. 5 shows an enlarged plot of a measured fluorescence signal as a function of time, showing the extent of the background noise
  • Fig. 7 illustrates how filtering the dips that are cross-correlated with bursts is performed.
  • the excitation laser 18 sends its illumination marked Ex, down a fiber optical transmission path FO, and by reflection in a dichroic mirror 11 , into the objective optics 10, of the confocal microscopy arrangement and produces a focal volume within the analyte flow channel of the microfluidic chamber 15.
  • any viral particles or virus-antibody particles are detected by analyzing the change in the level of each fluorescence emission Em at the characteristic wavelength of each fluorescing dye, as they pass individually through the laser focal volume, as described below.
  • 1A shows only the essential elements of the optical setup, and in addition there may also be a concentrating lens, a pinhole at the focus of the emission beam and another concentrating lens to re-collimate the emission beam between dichroic mirrors 11 and 12, and narrow bandpass filters in front of each of the PMT detectors.
  • Fig. 1 B the output signals of a representative analysis are shown.
  • the x- axis shows time in seconds.
  • the left y-axis shows the interaction signal in counts per second (cps).
  • the height of the interaction signal is indicative of the number of antibodies that interacted with the proteins on the virus-like particle surface.
  • the right y-axis shows the inverse signal, shown as a dip in the measured signal, in cps. Particles with large volumes yield large dips, while smaller particles yield smaller dips. Large particles without surface interaction show smaller magnitude signals having a longer duration of up to several seconds, as shown in the three signal dips 16 without surface interaction on the right half of the graph of Fig. 1 B.
  • the longer duration is the effect arising from the increased time that a larger particle takes in crossing the focused laser beam, and hence the longer time that the fluorescence signal is reduced.
  • the magnitude of the interaction signal is directly proportional to the amount of surface protein targets on a particle, the amount of added antibodies and the binding affinities of these antibodies to the surface protein targets.
  • These particles without surface interaction are not labeled by antibodies and represent particles having diameters >100 nm, and are other than the particles sought, since antibodies have not bound to their surface proteins.
  • These signals constitute ‘noise’, as these particles are not necessarily indicative of a specific viral species.
  • An exemplary implementation of the system combines detection of both antibody interaction and particle size signatures by positioning the tight focus of a laser beam into a mixture in laminar flow inside a microfluidic channel.
  • the mixture may include high concentrations of free green fluorescent dye (>100 mM fluorescein), and picomolar (pM) concentrations of red fluorescently-labeled antibodies targeting a specific virus capsid protein.
  • a second detector monitors fluorescence bursts arising from fluorescently labeled antibodies traversing the laser focal volume. If both virus particles and dye-labeled antibodies are dilute (less than 100 pM in the region of the microfluidics channel probed by the laser focal volume), the coincident detection of an inverse burst, together with the antibody-dependent burst, as indicated 17 in Fig. 1 B on the left side of the graph, is equivalent to the detection of one target particle.
  • Exemplary methods of the current disclosure discriminate particles of different sizes in laminar flow, which is more accurate and allows detection of lower concentrations of samples as opposed to tracking freely-diffusing particles. A combination of the "dip” and "burst" effect increases the specificity of the detection.
  • FIG. 2D and 2E is shown the mean and standard deviations of burst durations and sizes, respectively, at different flow rates for beads with diameters 1 ,000nm (finely dashed line), 500nm (coarsely dashed line) and 100nm (full line).
  • Fig. 2F shows a sample of a recording trace arising from a mixture of 100 nm dye-labeled beads and 500 nm unlabeled beads flowing at a rate of 375 nL/min.
  • the arrows 20 indicate coincident detections of the 100 nm beads.
  • 2G shows an exemplary histogram of burst widths from all coincident bursts, compared to the width probabilities recorded at a flow rate of 375 nL/min for beads of a single diameter, either 100 nm (the left hand sharper peak) or 500 nm (the right hand flatter peak). These results may be used to calibrate the system and provide an estimate of particle size based on standard curves.
  • the sheath flow focuses the stream of analyte, causing an increased volume of analyte to flow past a point in the microfluidic device at which the laser focal volume is positioned.
  • Advantages of this device are the cost, stability, and availability with which hydrodynamic focusing can be achieved; the limitation is the size of the channel and the angle at which the sheath flow meets the analyte flow, which accelerates the transit of particles.
  • These features of the chamber may be altered to ensure the greatest particle detection; an exemplary chamber allowing greater focusing of the analyte flow is shown in Fig. 3B.
  • This chamber model uses a shallow channel 35 for the analyte having a width of the order of 10-20 pm and a depth of 50 pm.
  • the system allows detection of more than 100 particles in under 10 minutes for a sample with particle concentrations as low as 10 8 particles/mL using the 100x1 ,000pm 2 microfluidic channel cutoff. With the 100x100pm 2 microfluidic channel cutoff, a sensitivity of 10 7 particles/mL can be reached. In general samples of biologically relevant sensitivities from bodily fluids are on the order of 10 7 particles/mL or less. Using a microfluidic device that concentrates the particles by orders of magnitude enables a similar increase in sensitivity.
  • Figs. 5 to 7 illustrate one exemplary way in which the dips and bursts can be identified, and how their sizes and durations can be quantified.
  • the laser excites the dyes and produces a constant fluorescent signal.
  • a particle flows through the laser focus, it reduces the overall number of dyes in the region of the laser focus by an amount proportional to the particle volume, which leads to a temporary dip in the constant fluorescent signal. The larger the particle volume is, the larger the dip will be.
  • the measurement data may be obtained as a text file that contains the value of counts per ms (mCPS) in bins of 1 ms.
  • mCPS counts per ms
  • a Python Notebook can be used to calculate the size i.e. signal decrease, and duration i.e. the time from the beginning of the signal decrease till its end, of a cross correlation dip-burst.
  • Two detractors may be used, one channel for the dip signal and other channel for the burst signal:
  • Fig. 5 shows an enlarged plot of a measured fluorescence signal as a function of time, showing the extent of the noise around the average signal.
  • the local median and two standard deviations (2 * std) values are calculated (the median and std of the signal of 1s before and 1s after the data point).
  • Fig. 5 shows the local median value and the cutoff of points that are lower than the local median by 2 stds.
  • Fig. 8 shows how the detection sensitivity is improved by using improved hydrodynamic focusing.
  • the detection sensitivity limit defined as the minimal number of particles per 1 ml_ that will yield at least 100 detections in at most 10 minutes, is reached on a 10 8 particles/mL solution, for flowing particles in a microfluidic channel with a 1 ,000X100 pm 2 cross-section.
  • hydrodynamic focusing of an analyte beam width was achieved, from 1,000 pm to 30 pm, as shown in Figs, 3B and 3C hereinabove, thus showing, theoretically, the ability to reach the sensitivity limit at 10 5 particles/mL solution.
  • spherical particles with diameters as low as 50 nm have been detected with ⁇ 50 nm accuracy.
  • the minimal concentration of spherical particles with 100 nm diameter detected within 10 minutes was attainable at a sensitivity limit of 10 7 particles/mL for a 100x100 pm 2 uniform cross-sectional microfluidic chip. It was also possible to distinguish 100 nm antibody-labeled particles from 500 nm unlabeled irrelevant particles found in a specimen-like mixture, as shown in Figs. 2F and 2G.
  • Two-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing allowed reduction in analyte cross-sectional volume, which enabled the sensitivity limit of 10 5 particles/mL.
  • 3D hydrodynamic focusing on a microfluidic chip that facilitates focusing in both dimensions it may be possible to reach an analyte cross-sectional volume of 2x2 pm 2 , which allows reaching the sensitivity limit with a concentration of 10 3 particles/mL.
  • a member of a pair forming molecular group is a biological molecule capable of binding with specific affinity to another member of the group.
  • the member may comprise one of the pairs: antibody (or antigen binding fragment of antibody) and antigen; lectin and glycoprotein; receptor and ligand; enzyme and substrate; nucleic acid sequence (RNA or DNA), and complementary sequence (RNA or DNA); nucleic acid sequence and aptamer (DNA binding protein).
  • the antibody may comprise any of: non-human antibody, humanized antibody, human antibody, chimeric antibody, bispecific antibody and an antibody fragment comprising at least the antigen binding fragment of an antibody.
  • the term “antigen-binding fragment of antibody” may refer to any of: antibody fragment selected from the group consisting of: Fab, Fab', F(ab')2, Fd, Fd', Fv, dAb, isolated CDR region, single chain variable region (scFV), single chain antibody (scab), "diabodies”, and "linear antibodies”.
  • the antibody may be: mouse lgG2a, mouse lgG2b, mouse lgG3, human lgG1 , human lgG2, human lgG3, and human lgG4.
  • Advantages of implementations of the present disclosure over current technology comprise the use of constant, unidirectional flow of the biological sample. Without microfluidic flow, the specific detection of a particular virus in a heterogeneous mixture of particles such as a biological sample, has not been possible. Furthermore, microfluidic flow allows to distinguish particles based on size, which is especially relevant for particles of similar sizes. It is expected that implementations of the above methods may reach a sensitivity of +/- 20nm resolution for size determination of particles. Measuring freely-diffusing particles produces many different detected signal sizes; thus, even if the particles are of the same size, such measurements are irrelevant for correlating the detected signal size to the particle size. Previously, the smallest particle diameter detected was 100 nm.

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Abstract

L'invention concerne des systèmes et des procédés qui permettent une détection optique de nanoparticules en fonction de la taille et de l'interaction avec des anticorps spécifiques. À l'aide d'un échantillon biologique combiné à des colorants fluorescents et à des anticorps marqués par fluorescence, des modes de réalisation du système divulgué permettent la détection de >100 particules présentant des diamètres pouvant descendre jusqu'à 100 nm en moins de 10 minutes. Les mécanismes de détection combinent une détection confocale de particules dans des dispositifs à écoulement microfluidique. La concentration de l'échantillon à l'aide d'une focalisation hydrodynamique permet la détection de particules présentant des concentrations pouvant descendre jusqu'à 104 particules par mL de l'échantillon. Ces capacités permettent la détection, l'identification et la quantification de virus dans des fluides corporels tels que la salive, les concentrations de virus biologiquement pertinentes de sujets potentiellement infectés se situant dans la plage de 103 à 107 particules/mL. Le système et les procédés comprennent un "viromètre à écoulement" qui fournit une rétroaction directe rapide concernant l'existence de virus spécifiques dans un échantillon biologique et sert de base technologique à des produits commerciaux.
EP22706915.0A 2021-02-11 2022-02-11 Viromètre à écoulement pour la détection rapide de virus intacts Pending EP4291895A1 (fr)

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